American
Waltham Watch Company, founded in 1850, were one
of the largest watch makers of the 19th Century.The
company was founded on a relationship between three
men, in Massachusetts USA.Mr David Davis, a
Mr Dension and a Mr Howard. It was based on
a dream that they could produce watches that were
of good quality, yet were not made from some of
the more expensive materials usually found on watches
of the era.Mr Howard had originally server as
an apprentice to a man called Aaron Willard Junior
circa 1829, and a few years later on, in 1842 Mr
Howard formed a clock and Balance Scale Manufacturing
company with Mr Davis. Mr Howard and Mr Dennison
then combined there ideas and with some funding,
completed there first watch in 1850.

But
problems were apparent.

The
company was trying new ideas, things like using
Jewels, making dials, and producing steel with a
mirrored finish.The problem was as always, that
things like this cost money, and all of it required
brand new machinery and thus put the company under
a great deal of financial stress. The other
thing discovered is that although each watch was
made in the same press and made in the same way
to the same style, each individual piece had it's
own individual problems and mistakes to be corrected
before the time piece could be classed as complete,
and it took months to adjust the watches to the
point that they were better than any other timepieces
on the market.During this time Mr Howard had
perfected and patented many different varieties
of automatic watch making machines, that could easily
and efficiently make precision watch components.

By
1851, the trio had there own production house, and
the name 'American Horology Company' was adopted.

In
1852 the company had renamed themselves and watches
were being produced with the signature 'The Warran
Mfg. Co.' after a Revolutionary War Hero. Watches
1 - 17, the first from the production line, were
not placed on the market but were instead given
to the company officials, and executives.From
then on the company went through a number of name
changes, with watches #18 - 110 being engraved with
"Warren Boston", the next 800 were marked
"Samuel Curtis" (The Main Financial Backer
of the Company) and a few were marked "Fellows
and Schel" and were sold for $40.

In
September 1853 the name was changed yet again to
'Boston Watch Company' an d a factory was erected
in Waltham, Massachusetts in October 1854. The movements
produced at this building are marked #1,001 to #5,000
and were marked with the engraving of "Dennison,
Howard & Davis,", "C.T.Parker",
and "P.S. Bartlett".Times were hard
and the Boston Watch Company failed in 1857, and
was subsequently sold at Auction to Royal E Robbins.

In
May 1857, the company was shuffled and became "Appleton,
Tracey & Co.", and the watches produced
in this time carried the serial numbers between,
5,001 and 14,000 ,model 1857. The C.T.Parker movement
was re-introduced as Model 1857 and was sold for
$12, 399 were made. In 1855 brass watches were being
sold for $1. Also at this time 598 chronometers
were made, and by January 1858 the P.S.Bartlet watch
was made.

In
January 1859, the Waltham Improvement Company and
Appleton, Tracey & Co. merged to form The American
watch Company.

As
Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the USA,
in 1860, and the US was plunged into Civil War,
the Comp nay Had problems, as over the next year
business was at a standstill. As there seemed to
be no market for watches, bankruptcy seemed inevitable,
but expenditures were cut to the lowest possible
level thus keeping the factory in operation.

To
this day the Waltham name is synonymous
with quality and craftmanship, and remain to this
day, very desirable timpieces.

Also an interesting
fact is that, according to the biography by Carl
Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln himself carried an American
Waltham wrist watch, the 'William Ellory' Model,
produced by Waltham, in 1863 and was an 18 size,
1859 ¾ plate model with steel balance.

Company Name History:

Approximate
Date

Company
Name

1850,
September

Howard,
Davis and Dennison, Roxbury Mass

1851
(for 6 months.)

American
Horology Co., Roxbury Mass.

1851-1853

The
Warren Mfg. Co., Roxbury Mass.

1853
(Sept) - 1857 (May)

Boston
Watch Co., Roxbury Mass & Waltham
Mass.

1857

Tracy
Baker & Co., Waltham Mass.

1857-1859

Appleton
Tracy and Co., Waltham Mass.

1859-1885

American
Watch Co., Waltham Mass.

1885-1923

American
Waltham Watch Co., Waltham Mass.

1923-1957

Waltham
Watch Co., Waltham Mass.

Please
remember that this is an unofficial account of the
history of this company,Should you happen to
find any mistakes with our information then please
contact
the webmaster.

Elgin
Railroad Watches - A Brief History

Elgin was founded in 1864, right as the civil war was coming to an end. The
first watch Elgin made, an 18 sized B W Raymond railroad grade watch, was
finished in 1867 and over the next 100 years, they went on to produce about 60
million watches. Elgin produced their first wristwatch around 1910, leading most
other American watch companies by many years.

Elgin was originally called the "National Watch Company". The name never
really stuck and in 1874, they changed their name to the "Elgin National Watch
Company" because most of the watch trade and public were calling them "watches
from Elgin". They kept that name until the late 1960s when they stopped
producing watches and changed their name to the "Elgin National Industries".

Elgin was founded on the idea of mass producing high quality pocket watches
using machine made, interchangeable parts. Up until around 1850, watches were
made mostly by hand, which meant that if a part broke, you had to find someone
with the tools and skill to make a new part. Elgin realized that there was a
large market for good watches that could be sold and repaired relatively cheaply
using factory made replacement parts that didn't require hand adjusting.

Elgin never made the very highest quality watches in the world, nor did they
make the very cheapest, but together with Waltham (aka The American Watch
Company), they dominated the vast middle ground of the watch market.

Today, Elgin watches are popular with watch collectors. Because Elgin
produced so many watches and produced so many spare parts, they can still be
easily bought and fixed, so even a 100 year old Elgin can be used, with care, on
a daily basis. While mechanical watches can't compete with quartz watches for
accuracy, there is something about having a watch that ticks that a quartz watch
just can't replace.

Elgin made a large number of railroad grade watches, including their first
watch, an 18 size, 15 jewel B.W. Raymond. Elgin also made the first Railroad
grade wrist watch, the grade 730A B.W. Raymond.

Kent Singer has written an article entitled Just What Is A Railroad
Watch?. This article covers American Railroad standards from around 1850
until 1960 and spells such myths as Railroad watches couldn't be hunter case
watches or pendant set.

Kent is one of the foremost experts on Railroad watches and co-authors a
regular column in the NAWCC Bulletin. Kent wrote his article in part to counter
the incorrect impressions left by reading the very popular "Complete Watches"
book. much of (mis-)information in the
"Complete Watches" book apparently can't be backed up with references.
Kent's article, in contrast, uses just a few of the references that I've seen
him use to back up claims.

A related article by Edward C. Hahn about railroad pocket watches can be
found at "Making the (Railroad) Grade: The 19j B.W. Raymond". It is a wonderful
article on Railroad grade pocket watches. It shows how a 19j BWRaymond works,
with very good pictures.

An article that talks about Elgin's "DuraBalance" and the railroad grade
B.W. Raymond wrist watch can be found at the "Forgotten Masterpieces:
The Last Elgins. This was written by Paul J. Chambre.

The following article is from the 1961 New York Central Railroad's
"Headlight" magazine. The picture is courtesy of the "New York Central System
Historical Society" and Kent Singer